There's No Place Like Home

Okay, okay...this is a little bit of a late update, but things in NYC are super busy, as always.  And THAT, my friends, is precisely the reason that being home for a whole week last week was such an amazing luxury!  There were a few events that were on consecutive weekends, so I decided to just bite the bullet and take an extended trip home.  Although I have to admit, I always say that I need a break from the hectic lifestyle that everyone seems to have in the city and that I just want to relax when I'm home, but I, never fail,  somehow manage to cram my whole trip full of plans and people and food and events. Not that I'm complaining...

ABBY TURNS 2!!!

The first weekend's event was the 2nd birthday of my amazing little niece, Abby!! Wow, does time fly!  I know that people say that all the time, but, I mean, it is TRUE.  I saw her just a couple of months ago when I was home for my cousin Meg's wedding, but now she's actually a real live human little PERSON.  She understands and responds when you talk to her, she knows people's names (or at least some version of it..."Eeean?"  I'll take it!!), she has favorite toys (her Owie and any sort of mylar balloon) and TV shows (Mickey Mouse, duh!), she has opinions (watermelon=TOPS)...  she is officially not a baby anymore! And the person she is becoming is pretty rad.  The party itself was pretty awesome too.  I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in forever, the food was great (If you go hungry at one of our family events, you're doing it wrong...), and it's always fun to see a bunch of toddlers getting knocked over by big dogs and trying to stuff toys in their diapers.  I also really relish the opportunity to spend more time with my brother and my sister-in-law...our lives are so different and we live so far apart that we don't get to see each other often enough and when we do, it's so quick and hurried.... but I miss them (and the rest of my family) a lot when I'm in New York.

"Where are the horses??"

I also took Abby for the day on Monday when everyone was working which was super fun.  Nice to have some one on one time with her and take her to the park and do some playing.  I will MAKE her know me, dammit!! :) My dad also joined us for a lot of the day...and Abby sure does love her Grandpa!  He's so good with her and makes he laugh so much!  Totally great day swinging and going down the slides and watching the ducks and trying out the new birthday tricycle...I think Abby's favorite part was watching the trains on the trestle going over the river with a ton of excitement and a hint of petrification.  Needless to say, Grandpa and Auntie were slightly exhausted after just one day chasing around an energetic two year old... and Auntie had to have a couple of glasses of wine.

Beautiful Wrigley Field

This is where it all went wrong...Good effort though, guys.

CUBS GAME AT WRIGLEY FIELD

I ALSO made it into the city to see one of my besties, Tara.  We've been friends since high school and have since never lived in the same state, but we've somehow managed to keep a great friendship and see each other fairly often.  Our love of Chicago sports just may be one of the ties that bind...  We used to go to Chicago Cubs games together a lot, but location (and the Cubs severe allergy to winning these days) have made it less frequent.  That same epic losing streak has also made the tickets a lot cheaper these days (although the Lovable Losers still somehow manage to bring in quite a few people consistently...must be the atmosphere and the Old Style.) so we decided to pick up a night game when I was in town.





Unfortunately, a rain deluge in the middle of the 5th and an "Oops!" moment from the Wrigley Field tarp crew caused a massive 4 1/2 hour delay that eventually ended in the Umps calling the game...Tara and I held out til about 12:30am before we called it a night.  Glad we did since they never ended up playing again!

Got this ungodly amazing Mac Attack Burger at ROCKIT before the game.  Frickin YUM.

KOONTZ LAKE, INDIANA



I luckily ended up making it out the Lake for a few days again this trip.  I love heading out to the lake house in Indiana cause it might truly be the only time and place that I don't feel like I have to DO anything.  Except EAT.  And drink Bud Light.  And cruise around the lake on the pontoon commenting on other people's cottages...This time it was just me and Mom and Dad and Grandpa (with a quick drive-by from Sarah).  Watched some preseason football and the Little League World Series, ate some corn on the cob, lay in the sun, took a quick trip to Amish Country and enjoyed some great thunderstorms.  Perfection.

Bouncy Castle at the the Fiesta.  Because OF COURSE!

BRENNA TURNS 30!!!!

The week ended with my cousin Brenna's big 30th birthday at their house in Libertyville! A Mexican Fiesta, naturally!  With the awesome taco truck and crew that they hired to feed us AND all of the food that people brought, again, no one went hungry.  I wish I could have stayed longer, but everyone knows that as soon as you book any sort of a plane ticket out of NYC, you agent calls with a great audition...So I ended up having to leave well before the end of the night to catch a flight back to the city.  ( I heard that there was some karaoke-ing, some staying up til 3am and some puking that happened later....but I won't name names. ;)





I could go on forever about my week at home, but I'll cut it short.  Oh wait! I also went out to Lincolnshire to see some friends of mine in ON THE TOWN at the Marriott there!  They were wonderful! Superstars!! So proud!  (SEE??  I can't stop making plans when I'm at home trying to relax!)  Of course it all felt too short, but it was wonderful none the less.  And I MIGHT be back sooner than later...more on that at a later date.

-e

PS:  Shout out to my parents who are ALWAYS so good to me, but especially when I'm at home....taking me out for dinner, scheduling me a dentist appointment, picking me up super early at the airport and taking off work just to hang out.  You guys are seriously the best!!